Flood sans river
Saurashtra was flooded since rainwater could not drain
THE state highway between Viramgam and Surendranagar towns in Gujarat presents a stark contrast. On one side is a carpet of green fields for miles, and on the other, decaying Jowar and cotton crops, at places submerged in water. The 60 km highway itself remained under water for three days in mid-September.
The contrast makes clear the nature of floods in Gujarat. There are no rivers near inundated areas. After Surat floods in 2006, this is the second time that a major flood has happened in the state due to blocking of drainage paths. Most affected areas are in the peninsular Saurashtra region. In two days, September 17-18, it rained as much in Surendranagar district as it rains in a year there. “It rained more than 40 inches in 30 hours, leading to flooding. There was no time for water to recede,” said J D Bhad, collector of Surendranagar.
The damage was heavy. Over a hundred thousand hectares of agricultural land was damaged by water-logging. About two thousand houses have collapsed completely and 13,000 others are partially damaged. Yudhveer Jadhav, an elder member of Adalsar village in Surendranagar, estimates that in his Lakhtar taluka, cotton crops worth Rs 40 crore have been damaged. Continue reading »
Filed under Agriculture, Rivers, Travel | Tags: Agriculture, Floods, Gujarat, Narmada Valley Project, Natural Disasters, Rainfall, Rainfall Pattern, Salinity, Surendranagar, Waterlogging | Comment (0)Pyrrhic Victory
The US steals Kamal Nath’s party in Geneva
The trade talks at the World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva collapsed in the last week of July. The Union minister for Commerce, Kamal Nath, said India would not accede to the demands of developed countries at the cost of Indian farmers. Nath seems to have become a hero in many quarters in the country and in other developing countries—and a villain amongst developed countries for allegedly scuttling free trade negotiations. But in reality, he has virtually complied with all conditions of the wto agriculture text, including almost zero farm subsidy reduction by developed countries. And the talks actually collapsed because the us did not want to make any commitment to cut massive subsidies to cotton growers. Continue reading »
Filed under Agriculture, India, News | Tags: * Imports, Agriculture, Cotton, Developing Countries, Farmers, India, Subsidies, Switzerland, Trade, United States Of America (US), WTO | Comment (0)On Tenterhooks in Geneva – Developing countries push for markets at WTO Mini-Ministerial
Developing countries push for markets at WTO mini-ministerial
Farmers’ associations all over India were holding protests demanding exclusion of agriculture as an agenda in the World Trade Organization (wto) talks, even as the organization’s mini-ministerial debated ways to secure “meaningful market access in agriculture, manufacturing and services”. At the time this magazine went to press, farmers’ groups were apprehensive that the Union minister for commerce might sign a deal at this meet in Geneva allowing the entry of cheap agricultural products from the developed world. “That would be the last nail in the coffin of small farming in India,” said Sheelu Francis of the Tamil Nadu Women’s Collective, an organization representing over a lakh agriculture workers in the state.
The draft for negotiations for the Geneva ministerial—the third draft on the matter—did not accede to most demands of developing countries, the principal one being substantial cuts in subsidies offered to farmers in the us and European Union. These subsidies end up lowering prices of agricultural products in the developed countries below the production cost of farmers in developing countries, giving the former unfair market advantage. Continue reading »
Filed under Agriculture, Environment, India, News | Tags: * Imports, Agriculture, Developing Countries, European Union (EU), Farmers, Food Security, India, Subsidies, Trade, WTO | Comment (0)Custard Apples belong to South America, or India?
Custard Apples belong to South America. A recent excavation in a small town in Uttar Pradesh has unearthed custard apple seeds there. The seeds date to the Neolithic era—3rd-2nd century bc. Is it possible then that there existed some kind of communication between India and South America?
Researchers who carried out the study say yes. “We found one whole seed and three to four broken seeds,’ says A Pokharia of Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleoethnobotany, Lucknow. The study was carried out in Tokwa, an archaeologically important site in Mirzapur district. The seeds had heavy carbon coating. Based on radiocarbon dates of other Neolithic sites in the region, the author concluded that the seeds belonged to the 3rd-2nd century bc. The study was published in Current Science (Vol 94, No 2).
There are other studies that say that the Portuguese introduced custard apples in the East in the 16th century ad. Pokharia refutes such claims. Continue reading »
Filed under Agriculture, India, News | Tags: History, Horticulture, India, Mirzapur, Seeds, South America, Uttar Pradesh | Comment (0)POSCO: Villagers Demand 5% of Share in Company’s Profits
Some people in Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur district, in a complete turnaround from their earlier stand, agreed to give up land for the POSCO steel plant on January 5, but with conditions. They have asked for a 5 per cent share in the profits of the company, among other demands.
In another development, the Central Empowered Committee, which advises the supreme court on forest-related cases, recommended that mines, steel plant and captive port— POSCO‘s proposed projects—should be considered as one and reviewed in entirety for its ecological significance and rehabilitation plans rather than as three different projects. POSCO filed an affidavit in the apex court on January 4, contesting the recommendations and asking for separate clearances for its three “separate’ projects. The case will come up for hearing in the third week of January. Continue reading »
Filed under Agriculture, Livelihood, News | Tags: compensation, Conflicts, Displacement, India, Iron And Steel Industry, Land Ownership, Land Resources, Mining, Orissa, Ports, Supreme Court | Comment (0)EU Bans Indian Guar Gum
The guar gum trade in India has suffered a setback after the European Union (EU) banned import of non-certified guar gum from India. The move came after dioxins and pentachlorophenols were found in a consignment delivered by India Glycol, a Delhi-based exporter.
India is the leading exporter of guar gum, constituting about 80 per cent of the global production. It is being exported to other countries since 1956. Guar gum is derived from guar seeds (cluster beans), a legume crop that grows in semi-arid regions of the subcontinent. It is used as a thickening agent and as an additive in food products. Continue reading »
Filed under Agriculture, India, News | Tags: * Dioxin, * Food Additives, * Food Standards, * Imports, * Legumes, * Rajasthan, * Uttaranchal (Uttarakhand), European Union (EU), Food Contamination, India, Trade | Comment (1)